Road Transport and Highways Ministry on Monday (14 August 2023) said that Dwarka Expressway is an engineering marvel involving the construction of 8-lane, expressways on a single pier which has been conceived and designed considering present traffic volume.

Issuing a clarification on high capital cost for Dwarka Expressway in the performance audit by CAG, the Ministry said, it would also result in reduction of pollution in the entire Delhi-NCR region which has already benefited from similar development on the Eastern Peripheral Expressway and Delhi-Meerut Expressway. This projects also features India’s first 4-level interchange and 8-lane Tunnel.

In the performance audit report by CAG, it has been brought out that per kilometre cost of Dwarka Expressway is 250 crore rupees as against CCEA approved per kilometre cost of 18.2 crore rupees.

Ministry said that the per kilometre cost of 18.2 crore rupees was considered as normative cost for the formulation of Bharatmala Pariyojna for approval of CCEA. It said, the civil cost or capital cost of the project being undertaken under the Bharatmala Pariyojna varies based on its design features, terrain and geographical locations. Ministry further clarified that under Bharatmala Pariyojna, the average cost for special projects enveloping substantial lengths of bridges, viaducts, and tunnels is 152 crore rupees per kilometre.